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Google Targets Low-Cost Android One Phone At African Markets
jfruh writes: In order to meet its goal of bringing Android to five billion users, Google needs to get smartphones into the hands of people in the developing world. The company's Android One program aims to do just that. Already active in India, the program is now bringing an $88 smartphone to West Africa. “The software on Android One devices automatically updates to the latest version of Android and will get the Android M release after release. The goal is to provide a consistent and uncompromising smartphone experience, for everyone,” Google VP of product management, Caesar Sengupta, said.
This puts to rest the final argument that Firefox OS supporters had to justify its existence: that Android phones were too expensive in third world nations.
Of course, that argument was quite weak to begin with. Low-cost used Android phones are already plentiful in such regions, and already widely used. And now new Android phones will be available and affordable, too.
Since Android phones can already run HTML/JS/CSS web apps, they should be able to run Firefox OS apps, too. Although in practice, there aren't really any Firefox OS apps worth using elsewhere.
Mozilla, it's time to shut down the Firefox OS project. Firefox OS has already gotten some of the most scathing reviews of all time, and it's seeing pretty much no adoption at all.
The worst thing about Firefox OS is that it has taken resources away from improving Firefox, the only product from Mozilla that really sees any use (although its market share is dropping, too). If Firefox OS was cancelled, the money and people involved could be moved over to working on Firefox instead. They could strip out Pocket, Hello, Australis, and all of the other completely unwanted changes that have been made lately. After that is done, and Firefox's UI is usable again, they could tackle some of the decade-old bugs and performance problems that have yet to be fixed.
It's a real shame that Firefox OS wasn't cancelled sooner. It was clear from the onset that it was a failed project. The resources wasted on it could have been put to much better use elsewhere.
The software on Android One devices automatically updates to the latest version of Android
Unlike just about all other Android phones ... especially from AT&T ...
There are lots of people in Africa who can afford an $88 smartphone, but that doesn't make it a cheap smartphone. You can find brand new Android and Windows Phone devices for under $60 right here in the US. The Android devices probably don't have too great of an update story, but that's an OEM problem and one that Google can obviously avoid. It seems like Google could easily make a device that costs less than $80, and when you're targeting the developing world, I feel like it would be a lot easier to sell a smartphone costing nearly $50 than nearly $90!
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
I thought it was going to be an Android phone. Make up your mind, for christ's sake.
My pay-as-you-go LG Optimus Android phone was only $19 from Best Buy. No contract required. I don't understand how $88 is cheap. There are tons of android phones under $50 now.
I bought an Android One phone to get regular updates. It took more than 6 months for Google to roll it out to my device. I was expecting an update within 2 weeks of the announcement at Google I/O. They've changed the wording on their website, but at the time it was:
"Android One devices receive the latest version of Android directly from Google. When a new update is released, it can take up to two weeks to reach your device.
So Google broke their promise big time. I wouldn't advise anyone to get an Android One phone.
Detroit then ?
Just ship them 3 year old budget smartphones which are basically free.
Bought one for my girlfriend, on Verizon prepaid. LTE, 8 GB storage, 1 GB RAM, up to 32 GB sd card, 1.2 Ghz snapdragon 410 quad core, lollipop 5.0 upgraded to 5.1, splashproof rugged build, 2390 mah battery, front camera for Skype, paid 58 bucks. I've seen it on sale for this price several times since then. Very snappy little phone, too... Smooth scrolling and apps open quickly.
I just bought an approx $50 (199 RON) quad core, dual-SIM, KitKat Android phone in Romania. This one is called Myria_Quad, but similar phones, with 512 MB of RAM, 4 GB of storage, 480x800 pixels, can be found on Amazon, eBay, and from traditional vendors (I got mine in brick&mortar retail). I'm sure these are already popular in Africa at this price point (if you have that kind of money), so targeting them with $88 phone sounds a bit clueless. That $88 price point is what you charge westerners for the same thing (phones similar to the one I got go for 50-80 GBP in the UK ~ $80-125).
"Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
to engage in complete political and financial espionage over the African continent. That would be a more accurate statement.
.. would be to sell them to "wealthy" countries too.
They could still sell the more expensive lines (proof: Apple exists).
I recently watched a documentary on TV about an extended family living a remote existence somewhere in Africa. One of the men had a mobile phone and he was saying it was a day trip to walk to the nearest town to get it charged and he did it about once a week.
Yeah, try that with a smart phone.
Or any phones, for that matter? Or perhaps a car to begin with? Or a bicycle?
Could it possibly have anything to do with their average IQ being 70?
I don't understand why google doesn't push these in every country. The reference design, combined with guaranteed updates is a very attractive package, especially with the SDCard support that the Nexus line does not have. Not to mention that it seems to directly address fragmentation. A slightly upgraded version of an Android One made by a top teir manufacture with the same basic reference hardware, maybe a larger battery, LTE modem, better screen/case at a ~$200 pricepoint (Call it an Android 2?)? Sign me up for three.
I am still running a Nexus 4, and the only reason I am thinking of "upgrading" to a Nexus 5 is because it appears that the 4 will not be supported by Google with factory updates much longer. The hardware still more than meets my needs for light web browsing, book reading, phone use etc. When I want a machine that is more powerful I pull out a laptop.
In the end I'm probably going to buy a Lava Pixel V1 or like phone just to try it out. I wonder just what percentage of One's that are sold in India are exported to buyers in mode "advanced" nations through Ebay and Amazon.